[Biopsy for diagnosis of tuberculosis]

Recent advances of molecular techniques make diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis rapid and easier comparing to conventional techniques. However, diagnosis for tuberculosis, especially tuberculous pleuritis, tuberculous lymphadenitis and non-pulmonary tuberculosis, is not easy. Transbroncheal lung biopsy (TBLB) is a helpful examination for not only pulmonary tuberculosis but also malignant diseases. The pleural biopsy using Cope needle was commonly used as a method for diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis, and the sensitivity of pleural biopsy is about 50% or more. Furthermore, the pleural biopsy using thoracoscopy was reported to show a higher sensitivity for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis. A lymph node biopsy is also a useful method for diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis. Thus, a biopsy method is the reliable tool for diagnosis of not only pulmonary tuberculosis, but also other organ tuberculosis.